Bill Warner PhD: Allah Knows Best

Islam has many commands for Muslims that turn out to have negative health results. For instance, fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars. Pregnant women do not have to fast, but a woman can be pregnant and not be aware of it during the first two months. If this occurs the fasting can cause fetal damage to vision, hearing and learning defects. Then there is the matter of the Koran allows first cousins to marry, which can birth defects. Another negative impact on women’s health is the wearing of full coverage such as a burka. The total coverage of the skin can cause lowered vitamin D levels which can affect bone development. See: Mishal, A.A., Effects of Different Dress Styles on Vitamin D Levels in Healthy Young Jordanian Women. Osteoporosis International, 2001. 12(11): p. 931-935. When women wear a tent like covering it hides the shape of the body (which is the objective) it removes social pressure to maintain healthy weight. The Economist magazine published an article about how the highest world obesity rates are found in Islamic countries. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10... Douglas Almond, Bhashkar Mazumder What can be done to protect women’s health? The biggest problem is that political correctness demands that such questions are Islamophobic and should be censored.